Sewing machine needle cooler



Patented Sept. 28, '71954 uiten .STATES PATENT oFFlcEV 2,690,148 'SEWINGMACHINE NEEDLE COOLER y Frederick W. Adams, New York, N. Y., assignor toCoats & Clark Inc.,` a corporation of Delaware Application November 1o,1951, seriaiNo. 255,852

' 4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates toimprovements in sewing machine needlecoolers and relates, more particularly, to a detachable needlecooler forapplying continuous jets of a cooling medium to the needle of a sewingmachine.

An object of the present invention is toy provide a device for coolingthe needle of a sewing machine which may be detachably secured to thesewing machine for operation in conjunction therewith without alterationor modiication of the sewing machine itself. A further object of thepresent invention is to provide a needle cooler which will applycontinuous jets of a cooling medium to the eye'of the needle andinrespect thereto reference may be made to vmy co-pen'dlng applicationSerial No. 142,927, i'lled February '7, 1950, for Needle Cooling Devicefor Sewing Machines which describes and claims va needle cooler designedto function in this manner.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will beapparent and best understood from the `following description and theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View illustrating a needle cooler embodying thepresent invention attached to the needle bar of a sewing machine;

- Fig. 2 is a section view taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section View taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. l is a section view taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. l.

Referring to the drawings in detail and, in particular, to Fig. 1thereof, there is the lower end of a needle bar Il) that is reciprocatedin the usual way by a sewing machine. The reciprocating needle bar Illcarries the usual needle clamp I I and a sewing needle I2 is secured inthe needle clamp Il by a needle clamp screw I3.

A needle cooling device is detachably secured to the needle clamp II andreciprocates therewith upon reciprocation of the needle bar I0. Theneedle cooling device includes a hollow or chambered body I l whichconsists of two portions, an upper half I5 and a lower half I6. Theupper half i5 is suitably joined to the lower half IS in mating relationand with the mating faces forming a seal. The hollow body I4 is C-shapedand when it is installed on the needle clamp I I, one of the armsthereof extends around the needle clamp and is held in engagementtherewith by means of a set screw Il which is threaded in the body andwhich when tightened bears against the head of the needle clamp screwI3.

In order to prevent movement of the needle 2` cooler relative to theneedleV bar during reciprocation thereof, the end of the set screw Ililts into a recess in the head of the needle clamp screw I3. Inaddition, the set screw I'I may be held in place by a lock screw or nutI8.

In the illustrated embodiment, the lower half I6 of' the hollow body'Illcontains a chamber or recess I9 which has an inlet Ztl communicatingtherewith. An inlet tting 20 is threaded in the inlet 28 and has aportion 2l which projects beyond one side of the hollow body I4. AeXible hose 22 is connected to the portion 2| of the inlet fittingEiland communicates with a supply of cooling medium under pressure andthus supplies the chamber It inthe hollow body with a continuoussupplyof the' cooling medium under pressure.

The chamber I9 communicates with a series of spaced jet outletpassageways 23 in the body which have openings in the bottom face of thelower half I6 of the hollow body I4. The chamber I9 communicatesdirectly with the passageways 23 in the center and one arm of theG-shaped body I 4 and communicates with one of the passageways 23 in theother arm of the .body through a passageway 23a.

The outlet passagewaysZS are inclined so that they converge upon acommon point C that is spaced both downwardly and inwardly with respectto the hollow body Ill. The point C at which the passageways 23 convergeis the point at which the eye of the needle I2 islocated when the needleis secured in place by the needle clamp I3 and the hollow body I4 isattached thereto.

The inclined converging passageways 23 are relatively small in diameteras compared to the inlet iitting 2t and are designed so that ccntinuousjets of the cooling medium are directed toward and impinge upon theneedle I2 at the eye thereof. Thus, the maximum cooling is effected atthe eye of the needle which is the point where the thread contacts withthe needle and is most damaged or broken by the heat generated insewing. The passageways 23 are preferably of such length and diameterand pressure of the cooling medium supplied to the chamber I9 is suchthat there is a turbulent flow of the cooling medium in the streams orjets of the cooling medium which emerge from the passageways 23 and thejets maintain a substantially uniform cross-section until they impingeupon the eye of the needle. To obtain the maximum cooling effect, thelength of the outlet passageways 23 should be `from three to ve timestheir diameter and their diameter should be as small as possible.

The lower half I6 of the body i4 may also be beveled or cut away asopposite the needle as indicated at 24 so that the needle cooler Willnot interfere with the passage of the goods to be sewn or with thehandling thereof.

It will be understood that Various modications may be made in theembodiment of the invention illustrated herein without departing fromthe scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for continuously cooling the needle of a sewing machine,the combination comprising a vertically reciprocable needle bar, aneedle clamp carried by the needle bar at one end thereof, a sewingneedle secured in the needle clamp and extending beyond the said one endof the needle bar, a chambered body detachably secured to the needleclamp and having portions extending at least partially around the needleclamp, said body having an inlet connected to a source of a coolingmedium under pressure and a plurality of inclined passagewayscommunieating with outlets in one face thereof, said passageways beingspaced about the axis of the needle carried by the needle clamp, each ofsaid passageways being inclined to direct a jet of the cooling mediumtoward the needle at a point spaced from the needle clamp.

2. In a device for cooling the needle of a Sewing machine, thecombination as defined in claim 1 wherein the rpassageways in. thechambered body are inclined to direct converging jets of the coolingmedium against an eye in the needle.

3. In a device for continuously cooling the 35 needle of a. sewingmachine, the combination comprising a vertically reciprocable needlebar, a sewing needle extending from the needle bar at one end thereof, aneedle clamp secured to said end of the needle bar, a set screw carriedby said clamp and engaging with the needle, a C-shaped chambered bodyextending around the needle clamp, means for detachably securing saidbody to the needle clamp, said chambered body having an inlet thereinand having a plurality of inclined passageways communicating withoutlets in one face of the body, said passageways being spaced about theaxis of the needle carried by the needle clamp, each of said passagewaysbeing inclined to direct a jet of the cooling medium toward the needle,said jets converging at a common point spaced from the needle clamp.

4. In a device for continuously cooling the needle of a sewing machine,the combination as defined in claim 3 wherein the means for detachablysecuring the C-shaped body to the needle clamp includes a set screwextending through one arm of the C-shaped body and engaging with the setscrew in the needle clamping member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,080,322 Le Vesconte May 11, 1937 2,163,687 Jacobsen June 27,1939 2,316,647 Giglio Apr. 13, 1943 2,593,203 Schwartz Apr. 15, 1952

